Well, I've recently been emailed they can't supply it. Supply runs out, stock is discontinued, etc. It happens.
What I find utterly atrocious is the scant communication from these guys and the delays while I banged my head against this information vacuum.
I've got other gear that was sent to the warehouse in Carson to consolidate with these forks and it's been sitting there stranded for weeks and the agents are getting pissed about it and charges will flow as a result. That gear on it's own is not big or valuable enough to just ship down by itself, so WTF do I do with that stuff now? Anyone want a few rolls of Stihl chain?
I could have planned this so much better if only Iowa Farm Equipment had bothered to communicate with me in a timely manner. They had my $ on Dec the 18th their time, more than enough time pre-holidays to check stock levels and chase it up with their suppliers but I got nothing from them...for weeks. No advice, nothing. I had to chase them every step of the way until I finally get an email saying they can't supply it? I just find that seriously disrespectful to mess someone around like this, not keep them in the loop, not get on the phone and get answers and give those to me in a reasonable time frame. We aren't talking a few days here, we are talking week after week after bloody week! How long does a phone call or two getting to the bottom of it all and or chasing it along and then calling me actually take, even over holiday periods?
Why did they not get answers before Xmas? Or check, even before I actually paid them? Why did they not chase it along and sort it? Why did I have to chase them hard every time I needed an answer I wasn't getting and still haven't had on these things? That's not customer service. That's a bloody shambles and utterly disrespectful.
The only good thing I can find about these guys so far, is that with the latest email they offered a discount on an upgrade to a larger model (but from the same supplier I note) to replace the one I paid for all those weeks ago. So, if I want to throw another $500 their way.... That's about all I can see where they have followed even the basics of customer service 101. But do you think they had enough initiative to actually confirm this more expensive alternative model they offered was in stock or the time frames for expedited shipping or offer the faster method of credit card payment (you know, the one I was offered right at the outset but was revoked along with an insistence they needed a wire transfer instead - leading to delays and which will delay this even further if that's the only option), especially in light of these delays? Nup.
Yes, it seems like Alo / Quickie North America has hung them and by extension me, out to dry. But Iowa Farm Equipment's handling of this has been despicable. Their communication deplorable.
This year I'll be spending about $30k-ish on gear Iowa Farm Equipment sell - I need a small tractor for Dad, another mower attachment and other tractor gear. If there is a silver lining in this fiasco it's that at least I get to see how Iowa Farm Equipment measure up when things don't go according to plan. Perhaps there is some truth in the old saying 'forewarned is forearmed'.
The way this has gone down, who knows how long a "full refund" would take to get back into my account if what they have currently offered is the best they can do under the circumstances. Who knows how long it will take to get the next communication from them, but I suspect I'll have to chase them again on Monday USA time with another phone call and make a decision then.
I need this at this time of the year like a hole in the head.